Abstract [en]

Question: What effect does inpatient oncology treatment have on patient quality of life and physical functioning? Does recent weight loss associated with inferior physical functioning in patients admitted for inpatient oncology treatment? What are the implications for physiotherapy practice?

Results: The EORTC-30 and SF-8 physical functioning and fatigue scales as well as timed up and go and sit to stand functional measures showed a trend of weekly decline in performance during inpatient oncology treatment but changes were not statistically different from baseline. Emotional and cognitive functioning and the 30 second arm curl however improved compared to baseline (p = <0.05). Social functioning showed a decline at two weeks compared to baseline (p = <0.05). Bivariate correlation analysis of baseline data showed sit to stand (r = -0.52), isometric knee extension (r = -0.39) and foot dorsiflexion (r = -0.42) strength to be significantly negatively associated with weight loss (p = <0.05).

Conclusion: Despite non-significant decline in physical functioning during inpatient oncology treatment, comparison to healthy aged matched normative values showed obvious inferiority in quality of life and physical functioning at time of admission to hospital.

Key Practice Points:

• Physiotherapy management of patients in the inpatient oncology setting should focus on preventing decline in physical and social functioning.

• Patients with greater reported weight loss may be more prone to larger declines in physical functioning in the inpatient oncology setting.